Rennes vs Celtic Predictions

Celtic got their fifth win of the season after just five matches on Saturday as they squeezed past a resilient Hamilton side. Celtic won 1-0 with a strong squad but didn’t show much cutting edge despite their dominant possession. This match might have been a one-off though, considering the gavt that they were playing on an artificial pitch and in the wake of this massive Group Stage opener. 

Celtic have generally been very commanding this season so far with twelve wins in their 14 matches already. The two slip ups however, a draw and a defeat, came in some of their most crucial games though as they failed to get past Cluj in the third round of the Champions League group stage qualification. Despite these disappointing results, they have been very good at the top of the pitch with a whopping 42 goals scored in their 14 matches so far. They have conceded 12 goals in this time though which isn’t ideal for Neil Lennon’s side. 

Rennes will be the hosts for this match and while they have generally begun this Ligue 1 season in great form, their last two results have been less than desirable. They lost 2-1 to Nice before the international break and drew 0-0 with a lacklustre Brest side at the weekend. Rennes only mustered up an xG total of 0.42 in the Brest match, their worst tally this season. Rennes played a pretty strong squad in this match but held back in their striking options as Raphinha and Jordan Siebatcheu led the line in the absence of the usual pairing of M’Baye Niang and Romain Del Castillo. This lack of quality at the top end of the pitch cost them but they managed to bag a clean sheet, despite their rather shaky defence.

Rennes have kept three clean sheets in their last five games but these haven’t come in typical fashion as they have conceded an xGA of 7.1 in this time. This shows that Rennes have been conceding lots of high quality chances but Romain Salin and Edouard Mendy, Rennes’ two players to have appeared in goal so far this season, have been excellent in keeping out their various opponents. This is quite evident when you realise that both goalkeepers have conceded an average of three shots on target per game, a rather high tally for a team currently sitting 2nd. 

Celtic should be looking to take advantage of this rather soft defence in this match and with them winning eleven of their last 15 away games, they should back themselves here. Rennes’ home form hasn’t been as solid as they have won just two of their last seven matches at Roazhon Park, both teams scoring in five of these and Rennes keeping a clean sheet just once. With Celtic conceding in four of their last seven away days, we’re backing both teams to score in this match. We’re also backing this one to end 2-1 to the visitors as Celtic have been great on the road while Rennes haven’t been as impressive. Rennes also slipped up against Brest at the weekend with a pretty full squad so we’re predicting the Bhoys to get the win here. We’re also going to back James Forrest to score as he has been in electric form with seven goals in his last nine matches.